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https://github.com/worker-tools/workers.js.org

Worker Environments are the new standard for authoring HTTP servers in JavaScript.
https://github.com/worker-tools/workers.js.org
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Worker Environments are the new standard for authoring HTTP servers in JavaScript.
Host: GitHub
URL: https://github.com/worker-tools/workers.js.org
Owner: worker-tools
Created: 2021-01-09T02:08:54.000Z (almost 4 years ago)
Default Branch: master
Last Pushed: 2023-07-03T16:17:39.000Z (over 1 year ago)
Last Synced: 2024-06-21T14:28:21.884Z (5 months ago)
Language: Ruby
Homepage: https://workers.js.org
Size: 6.03 MB
Stars: 29
Watchers: 2
Forks: 5
Open Issues: 1
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
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README

        ---

layout: landing

logo: |

  

    

    

  

description: >

  Worker Runtimes are the **new standard** for writing **HTTP servers** in JavaScript. 

buttons: >

  [Learn More](#state-of-worker-runtimes){:.btn.btn-primary}

  [Contribute](#contributing){:.btn.btn-default style="font-weight:normal"}

---

# Worker Runtimes

* Table of Contents

{:toc .large-only}

## Origin

Worker Runtimes are an **adaptation** of the [Service Workers API][sw], which is a browser standard for offline web applications. To give web developers more freedom over offline experiences, the specification includes a (minimal) HTTP server. Since it was published, **other vendors have implemented this API** for servers that run in the cloud — or on the edge in the case of [Cloudflare Workers][cw].

Typically, they also implement other browser APIs such as Fetch, Streams, and Web Cryptography, making their global scope similar to that of a Service Worker. We call them _Worker Runtimes_ or _Worker Contexts_. 

To see which vendors and APIs are available, check out the [State of Worker Runtimes](#state-of-worker-runtimes){:.heading} below. 

```js

self.addEventListener('fetch', event => {

  event.respondWith(new Response('Hello World', {

    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain' }

  }));

})

```

{:.larger}

Example of a minimal HTTP server using Service Workers API

{:.figcaption style="margin-top:-1rem"}

*Since originally writing this, both Deno and Cloudflare Workers have dropped support for the pattern shown above.*

*While the `Request` and `Response` classes remain, the global `fetch` event and `respondWith` method do not.*

*The reasons are difficult to ascertain, but it seems it was deemed too confusing for beginners.*

{:.note title="Deprecation Notice"}

## State of Worker Runtimes

Last modified at: {{ page.last_modified_at | date:"%b %d %Y" }}

{:.heading.post-date}

There are currently two production quality Worker Runtimes. There are multiple offline, testing, and development implementations.

[Cloudflare Workers][cw] was the first, and is the most battle-tested Worker Environment. 

[Deno Deploy][dd] is a close second.

{:.note title="Summary"}

[![Cloudflare Workers](assets/img/cfworkers.svg){:style="max-width:22.5rem;margin-top: 1rem"}][cw]{:.no-mark title="Cloudflare Workers"}

[![Deno Deploy](assets/img/deno-deploy.png){:style="max-height:6.5rem;margin:.75rem"}][dd]{:.no-mark title="Deno Deploy"}

[![Miniflare](assets/img/miniflare.png){:style="max-height:6.5rem;margin-top:.75rem"}][mfl]{:.no-mark title="Miniflare"}

***

{:.clearfix}




|                         | [Service Workers][sw] | [Cloudflare Workers][cw] | [Deno CLI][dl] | [Deno Deploy][dd] | [Fastly Compute@Edge][fst] | [Miniflare][mfl] | [cfworker/dev][cdv] | [cloudflare-
worker-local][wlc] |

|:------------------------|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|

| Domain                  | Client                | Edge                     | Server         | Edge              | Edge                                      | Testing, Dev     | Testing, Dev        | Testing, Dev                        |

| Open Source             | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | [ℹ️][dd] | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |

| 1.0                     | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |  ✅      | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |

[c1]: https://github.com/dollarshaveclub/cloudworker#%EF%B8%8F-cloudworker-is-no-longer-actively-maintained-at-dollar-shave-club-if-youre-interested-in-volunteering-to-help-please-open-an-issue-%EF%B8%8F

[c2]: https://deno.com/deploy

[c3]: https://blog.cloudflare.com/workers-open-source-announcement/

[mfl]: https://miniflare.dev

### Legend

✅

: Supported

 

ℹ️

: Partial support / attention required

🔜

: Implementation in progress

👨‍💻

: Supported via 3rd party library / polyfill

❓

: Support to be determined

🚫

: Not supported

🔙

: Backwards compatibility only

💀

: Support dropped

{:.legend}

### Browser APIs

The center piece of any Worker Environment is an implementation of the global `fetch` event. 

Implementations of other browser APIs are necessary for bridging the gap between different worker runtimes.

|| Service Workers 
|:--------------- 
| `fetch` event 
| URL API 
| Fetch API 
| Abort Controller/Signal | 
| URL Pattern API 
| Encoding API 
| Streams API 
| Encoding Streams 
| Compression Streams 
| Web Cryptography API 
| `crypto.randomUUID()` 
| Cache API 
| WebSocket API 
| [Web Socket Stream][wss]| 
| Location API 
| `console` 
| `queueMicrotask` 
| `structuredClone` 
| `navigator.userAgent` 
| `Response.json` 
| EventTarget and Event 
| Web Workers API 
| Message Channel 
| Broadcast Channel 
| IndexedDB 
| Performance API 
{:.sticky-table}

| Cloudflare Workers | Deno CLI | Deno Deploy | Fastly C@E | Miniflare | cfworker/dev | cloudflare-
worker-local | ---------|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:| |  ✅      | [🔙][xi] | [👨‍💻][xb] |  🚫      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      | |  ✅      | [ℹ️][x5] |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      | |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      | ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ❓      |  ✅      | [👨‍💻][x1] | [👨‍💻][x1] | | [ℹ️][xf] |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  🚫      |  ✅      | [👨‍💻][xh] | [👨‍💻][xh] | |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      | | [ℹ️][x2] | [ℹ️][x4] |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      | [ℹ️][x4] |  ℹ️      |  🚫      | | [ℹ️][x0] |  🚫      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  🚫      |  🚫      |  🚫      |  🚫      | | [ℹ️][xo] |  ✅      |  ✅      |  🚫      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  🚫      |  🚫      | |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ℹ️      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      | | [ℹ️][xg] |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  🚫      |  ✅      |  ❓      |  ❓      | |  ✅      | [ℹ️][xa] |  ❓      | [🔜][xn] |  🚫      | [ℹ️][xd] |  ✅      |  ℹ️      | |  ✅      | [ℹ️][xc] |  ✅      |  ✅      |  🚫      | [ℹ️][xe] |  🚫      |  🚫      | ❓      |  ❓      | [🔜][xm] | [🔜][xm] |  🚫      |  ❓      |  🚫      |  🚫      | |  ✅      | [👨‍💻][x9]️ |  ✅      |  🚫      |  ✅      | [👨‍💻][x9]️ | [👨‍💻][x9] | [👨‍💻][x9] | |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      | [ℹ️][xp] |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      | |  ℹ️      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ❓      |  ❓      | |  ℹ️      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ❓      |  ❓      | |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  🚫      |  ✅      |  ❓      |  ❓      | |  ℹ️      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  🚫      |  ✅      |  ❓      |  ❓      | |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  ❓      |  ✅      |  ❓      |  ❓      | |  ✅      |  🚫      |  ✅      |  🚫      |  🚫      |  🚫      |  ❓      |  ❓      | |  ✅      |  🚫      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  🚫      |  🚫      |  🚫      |  🚫      | | [ℹ️][xj] |  🚫      | [🔜][xl] | [ℹ️][xk] |  🚫      |  🚫      |  🚫      |  🚫      | |  ✅      |  🚫      | [❓][x3] | [❓][x3] |  🚫      |  🚫      |  🚫      |  🚫      | |  ✅      |  🚫      |  ✅      |  ✅      |  🚫      |  🚫      |  ❓      |  ❓      |

[wss]: https://web.dev/websocketstream/

[x1]: https://github.com/mo/abortcontroller-polyfill

[x2]: https://caniuse.com/streams

[x3]: https://github.com/denoland/deno/issues/1699

[x4]: https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/learning/using-streams

[x5]: https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/runtime-apis/web-standards#url-api

[x6]: https://github.com/denoland/deno/issues/5957#issuecomment-722568905

[x7]: https://github.com/denoland/deno/issues/8824#:~:Re-align%20Streams%20to%20current%20standards

[x8]: https://github.com/denoland/deno/issues/1891

[x9]: https://github.com/worker-tools/location-polyfill

[x0]: https://caniuse.com/?search=text(en%7Cde)coderstream

[xa]: https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/learning/how-the-cache-works

[xb]: https://github.com/worker-tools/deno-fetch-event-adapter

[xc]: https://blog.cloudflare.com/introducing-workers-durable-objects/#can-durable-objects-serve-websockets

[xd]: https://miniflare.dev/cache.html

[xe]: https://miniflare.dev/web-sockets.html

[xf]: https://caniuse.com/mdn-api_urlpattern

[xg]: https://caniuse.com/mdn-api_crypto_randomuuid

[xh]: https://github.com/kenchris/urlpattern-polyfill

[xi]: https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/learning/migrating-to-module-workers#migrating-a-simple-worker

[xj]: https://caniuse.com/broadcastchannel

[xk]: https://deno.com/deploy/docs/runtime-broadcast-channel

[xl]: https://github.com/denoland/deno/issues/13214#issuecomment-1002551857

[xm]: https://doc.deno.land/deno/unstable/~/WebSocketStream

[xn]: https://deno.com/deploy/docs/runtime-api#future-support

[xo]: https://caniuse.com/mdn-api_compressionstream

[xp]: https://js-compute-reference-docs.edgecompute.app/interfaces/console.html

### Working Drafts

The APIs below are either abandoned or do not have buy-in from major browser vendors. However, they can still be reasonable targets for 3rd party libraries, such as KV stores or cookie middleware.

|                         | Service Workers | Cloudflare Workers | Deno CLI | Deno Deploy | Fastly C@E | Miniflare | cfworker/dev | cloudflare-
worker-local |

|:------------------------|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|

| [KV Storage API][kva]   | [👨‍💻][w1] | [👨‍💻][w2] | [👨‍💻][w6] | [👨‍💻][w6] |  🚫      | [👨‍💻][w2] | [👨‍💻][w6] | [👨‍💻][w2] |

| [Cookie Store API][csa] | [ℹ️][w3] | [👨‍💻][w4] | [👨‍💻][w4] | [👨‍💻][w4] | [👨‍💻][w4] | [👨‍💻][w4] | [👨‍💻][w4] | [👨‍💻][w4] |

[kva]: https://github.com/WICG/kv-storage

[csa]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Cookie_Store_API

[w1]: https://github.com/worker-tools/kv-storage-polyfill

[w2]: https://github.com/worker-tools/cloudflare-kv-storage

[w3]: https://caniuse.com/cookie-store-api

[w4]: https://github.com/worker-tools/request-cookie-store

[w5]: https://github.com/denoland/deno/issues/1923

[w6]: https://github.com/worker-tools/deno-kv-storage

### Non-Standard APIs

These are useful APIs provided by one or more Worker Environment that aren't on any standards track (including abandoned). 

|                             | Service Workers | Cloudflare Workers | Deno CLI | Deno Deploy | Fastly C@E | Miniflare | cfworker/dev | cloudflare-
worker-local |

|:----------------------------|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|

| [`scheduled` event][u1]     |  🚫      |  ✅      |  🚫      |  🚫      | 🚫 |  ✅      | 🚫 |  🚫      |

| [HTMLRewriter][u2]          | [👨‍💻][u7] |  ✅      | [👨‍💻][u7] | [👨‍💻][u7] | 🚫 | [ℹ️][u8] | ✅ | [👨‍💻][u7] |

| [KV][u3]                    |  🚫      |  ✅      |  🚫      |  🚫      | 🚫 |  ✅      | ✅ | [ℹ️][u6] |

| [Durable Objects][u4]       |  🚫      |  ✅      |  🚫      |  🚫      | 🚫 |  ✅      | 🚫 |  🚫      |

| [`crypto.DigestStream`][u9] |  🚫      |  ✅      |  🚫      |  🚫      | 🚫 |  ✅      | 🚫 |  🚫      |

| [Ed25519 via WebCrypto][ue] |  🚫      |  ✅      |  🚫      |  🚫      | 🚫 |  ✅      | 🚫 |  🚫      |

### General Capabilities, Non-Standard

These are some general capabilities provided by one or more Worker Environment that share similarities but aren't tied to a specific API.

|                             | Service Workers | Cloudflare Workers | Deno CLI | Deno Deploy | Fastly C@E | Miniflare | cfworker/dev | cloudflare-
worker-local |

|:----------------------------|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|

| File system access          |  🚫      |  🚫      |  ✅      | [ℹ️][uf] | 🚫       |  🚫      | 🚫 |  🚫      |

| Connect TCP                 |  🚫      | [🔜][ua] | [✅][ub] | [✅][uc] | 🚫       | [🔜][ua] | 🚫 |  🚫      |

| Connect UDP                 |  🚫      | [🔜][ua] | [🔜][ud] | [🔜][ud] | 🚫       | [🔜][ua] | 🚫 |  🚫      |

| WebSockets (Server)         |  🚫      | [✅][uh] | [✅][ui] | [✅][ui] | 🚫       | [✅][uh] | 🚫 |  🚫      |

 

[u1]: https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/runtime-apis/scheduled-event

[u2]: https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/runtime-apis/html-rewriter

[u3]: https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/runtime-apis/kv

[u4]: https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/runtime-apis/durable-objects

[u5]: https://github.com/dollarshaveclub/cloudworker#workers-kv

[u6]: https://github.com/gja/cloudflare-worker-local#cloudflare-kv-store-emulation-using-minio-or-any-s3-compatible-service

[u7]: https://github.com/worker-tools/html-rewriter

[u8]: https://github.com/mrbbot/html-rewriter-wasm#caveats

[u9]: https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/platform/changelog#2021-12-10

[ua]: https://blog.cloudflare.com/introducing-socket-workers/

[ub]: https://doc.deno.land/deno/stable/~/Deno.connect

[uc]: https://deno.com/deploy/docs/runtime-sockets

[ud]: https://doc.deno.land/deno/unstable/~/Deno.listenDatagram

[ue]: https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/platform/changelog#2021-06-27

[uf]: https://deno.com/deploy/docs/runtime-fs

[ug]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_Periodic_Background_Synchronization_API

[uh]: https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/runtime-apis/websockets

[ui]: https://deno.land/[email protected]/runtime/http_server_apis_low_level#serving-websockets

[uj]: https://developer.fastly.com/learning/compute/javascript/#using-edge-dictionaries

## Backend for Frontend

Worker Runtimes fulfill the original promise of NodeJS: To use one language and share code between client and server. In practice, this never came to be. Instead the APIs of node and browsers have diverged[^1]. Worker Runtimes are bringing them back together.  

This is good news for Frontend Developers in particular: The knowledge acquired for building (offline) web applications can now be applied to writing HTTP servers --- and so can the tools:

[^1]: Node and the browser have diverged due to a lack of browser APIs for many crucial components, including HTTP, streams, file access, and more more. A lot has changed since then. Standards have been written for all of these and more, often informed by the experience of using the node-equivalent.

[![Worker Tools Logo](./assets/img/tools.svg){:width="120" height="120"}][wt]{:.no-mark}

{:.centered style="margin:3rem auto -3rem"}

## Tools

No HTTP Server is complete without a web framework for common tasks such as routing, sessions, authentication, and more. 

[__Worker Tools__][wt] is a collection of tools and libraries for writing web servers, built specifically for Worker Runtimes.

They can be used independently, or as a complete framework via [__Shed__][wts].

## Contributing

Are you aware of any other Worker Runtimes available or in development? Did you find any inaccuracies in the tables above? Open a PR in the [workers.js.org repository](https://github.com/worker-tools/workers.js.org)!

[sw]: https://w3c.github.io/ServiceWorker/

[cw]: https://workers.cloudflare.com

[dl]: https://deno.land

[dd]: https://deno.com/deploy

[dsc]: https://github.com/dollarshaveclub/cloudworker

[wt]: https://workers.tools/

[wts]: https://workers.tools/shed

[wlc]: https://github.com/gja/cloudflare-worker-local

[cdv]: https://github.com/cfworker/cfworker/tree/main/packages/dev

[fst]: https://www.fastly.com/products/edge-compute

[xxx]: https://developer.fastly.com/learning/compute/javascript/




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